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A civilian aircraft carrying skydivers crashed near the eastern French town of Tomblaine on Sunday, killing all 11 people on board, local authorities confirmed.
The aircraft, a Pilatus PC-6/B2-H4 Turbo Porter operated by a parachuting school, went down in a grassy area near the runway of the Nancy-Essey Aerodrome. The crash killed the pilot and all 10 passengers, including five students and five instructors, according to local authorities.
The German-registered aircraft came down close to a residential area and two roads, but no one on the ground was injured.
Authorities have not yet determined what caused the accident.
Medical and psychological support teams were deployed to assist relatives of the victims who had been at the airfield, as well as other witnesses.
A technical investigation is underway, while police urged the public on social media platform X to stay away from the area around the airport to allow emergency crews to carry out their work.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez is expected to visit the crash site later on Sunday, according to his office.
The crash occurred at Nancy-Essey Aerodrome, a regional airport in the town of Tomblaine, just east of the city of Nancy in northeastern France.
Primarily used for general aviation rather than commercial airline traffic, the airfield has long served as a base for recreational flying, pilot training and parachuting activities.
The airport regularly hosts tandem skydives, student training, and sport parachuting events, making it one of the main centers for skydiving in the Grand Est region.
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